Manhattans
by noctepanther
Summary: A warm drink on a chilly night leads to another, which leads to another...OldRivalShipping. Rating for underage drinking.


It was winter in Kanto. Snow was falling, heavier in some places than others, but falling all over the land. It was illuminated during the nights by the soft glows of houses and streetlamps until the residents had all fallen asleep.

It was late in the evening and many of the villagers of Pallet Town had turned in. Only a few homes remained lit. Professor Samuel Oak's house, near his lab on the edge of town, was one of these. Green, the Viridian City Gym Leader and his grandson who lived with him, had just finished showering and was in the process of changing into pajamas when the doorbell to the modest house rang with authority. Grumbling, the young man finished buttoning his shirt and headed downstairs.

"How can I help - " Green started before the person who stood in front of him registered in his head. "Blue."

"Quick as ever, aren't you?" the brunette replied tartly. She brushed by in and into the house. "Nice PJs." In a series of movements so fluid that they appeared as one, she stepped out of her black heels and draped the small jacket she had been wearing on a wooden chair that sat in the entrance hallway. "The kitchen is that way, right?" She pointed to the left. Green nodded, a scowl starting to form on his features.

Blue turned around and strode confidently towards the kitchen. As she faded out of his vision, Green saw her bare back in the faint light of the hallway. Both intrigued and frustrated by her sudden arrival, he followed her.

She was peering into the cabinets, intent on finding something, and either did not notice his reappearance or had expected it and did not care. Green took the brief moment of silence to examine her apparel, which was out of character for her. Blue wore a black dress that tied around her neck and left her back exposed. He could see the barest skin of her breasts. A slit ran up the length of the left leg and her hair was up in a complicated-looking bun, with tendrils framing the side of her face.

"You were out in the snow dressed like that?" Was what he said.

"Yeah, I was at a party in Viridian City."

"You must be freezing."

"That's why I'm looking for your grandfather's liquor."

Green's eyes widened. "You want what?"

"Some booze. You know, to warm me up. Oh, I bet you guys have a cabinet. That sounds like a Professor-type of thing to have." Blue walked into the living room. Green followed.

"We do not have a - "

"Found it!"

"Goddamnit," Green mumbled.

"What was that?" Blue turned around from where she was standing near the front windows.

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought." She focused her attention back on the cabinet. "It's locked."

"Of course it is. Grandpa wouldn't leave it opened with me home alone, since I'm underage."

"And you've let that stop you in the past?" Blue's hands were now quickly undoing her bun.

"Unlike you, I have some respect for rules."

"Oh c'mon, Green, you can't tell me that you've never sneaked a shot or two." She was fumbling with the lock.

"Well, maybe once. Or twice." He heard a faint click.

"Or three or four or five?" She turned around smirking with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and vermouth in the other. "Go get some glasses and I'll fix the lighting in here."

"What?"

"Just do what I say!"

"Okay! Sheesh." He walked back to the kitchen, muttering "pesky girl" underneath his breath.

"I heard that!"

"Obnoxious woman!" he shouted back before coming into the living room, two stemmed glasses held in one hand and a box of crackers in the other.

"Never drink on an empty stomach," he said in response to her puzzled gaze.

"Aren't you the smart one?" she joked, taking the glasses and setting them down on the coffee table. He followed suit with the crackers, taking in the change she made in the room in the matter of minutes. The lights were dimmed and several candles had been lit. Green noticed an open box of matches resting on a nearby end table as he sat down across from Blue, who was already mixing two drinks. Her face was partially obscured by her released hair, but the passing glances into her eyes revealed only mischief.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"I told you, I was at a party in Viridian City. Here." She passed a glass full of dark liquid across the table to him then lifted her own. "Cheers." They touched glasses carefully with a soft clink. Green sipped carefully at his while Blue took a rather large drink. They both grimaced slightly after swallowing.

"Why are you here?" he asked again before sipping his drink.

"The party was lame, I didn't want to pay for a hotel, and Pallet Town is close by."

"But, why - "

"Am I here?" He nodded. "How do you think Red's mother would react when a girl dressed like I am now showed up on her doorstep asking to spend the night?" Blue took another large drink. Her glass was already almost empty.

"Spend the night? Who said you could spend the night!?" Green finished his drink.

"Oh, please. I know Professor Oak is away in Sinnoh for a conference – Crystal told me – and Daisy doesn't live here anymore. It's not like you don't have room to spare." She took his glass and started to mix the whiskey and vermouth together again.

"You…you're unbelievable, you know that?"

"I like to think such."

"Hmph."

"Always the embodiment of eloquence." She refilled her glass.

Green grunted again then tried for a change of topic. "What was wrong with the party?"

Blue leaned back in her seat. "Oh, you know, the usual kind of thing. Bad music, worse people." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's just about midnight. I should never want to leave a party before midnight."

"I wouldn't know."

She giggled. "Of course you wouldn't, the only parties you know are birthdays."

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"Of course not, of course not." She raised an eyebrow in provocation.

"There isn't."

"How do you have fun, Green?"

"Training." He drank.

"There's more to life than that."

"I'm a Gym Leader, I have to be prepared for challengers. And for Red."

Blue rolled her eyes and finished her drink. She sat the glass down on the table. He did the same, but reached for the whiskey bottle and drank straight from it. Her eyes twinkled.

"How come I'm not included in that? You think I'm not good enough to beat you? I did place third in the Indigo League, you know."

"And I was second."

"And you say I'm unbelievable." She took the bottle and drank from it. He grinned at her. She smiled at him. "What's that for." She asked.

"Just never thought I would see you do that."

"Do what?"

"Drink." He slid off the couch and kneeled on the floor. She leaned in closer.

"Why is that surprising?" she whispered. He snatched the bottle of her hands.

"Because I always thought you would be a vodka girl."

"Did you?" He nodded, then started to lift the bottle to his lips again. Blue stopped him with a quivering hand.

"Let's find out." She giggled before standing and walking back to the liquor cabinet. While she was searching, Green rose and went back into the kitchen.

"Got it!" She turned around. "Green?"

"I'm in the kitchen! Be back in a second." Blue shrugged and went back to her seat, swinging the vodka bottle. Green returned soon after with a bottle of soda in his hands.

"For mixing," he said as he sat down.

"I thought you didn't drink?"

"You only asked about Grandfather's liquor, not liquor in general." He took the vodka from her and poured it into her glass, measuring it with his eyes. The rest he filled with the soda. "Try it," he said, handing the glass to her. She took a careful sip and he watched anxiously.

"It's sweet."

"That's flavored vodka. Cherry. So I mixed it with cream soda."

"Oh."

"Do you like it?"

She paused, listening to the odd tone in his voice.

"A lot, I like it a lot." She smiled again. He returned it.

She slid down to the floor as he made a drink for himself. She smiled at nothing. She drank again. He got down on his knees. They clinked glasses. He made her another drink.

After he finished his glass, he went for the bottle again. She followed his lead.

"You didn't want to go to Red's, did you?" he asked after they had each taken several swigs from the bottle. She shook her head, looking at the floor. "You never even thought of him." She looked him in the eyes.

"No."

He nodded, eyes closed. "Good. He's a stupid drunk."

"Are you implying that you're drunk?"

His eyes snapped open. "No. Are you?"

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little bit."

"Then…maybe I am, too."

"Thought so."

"Pesky woman."

"A woman all the same."

His gaze traveled up her figure. "So I see."

She gulped. "Let's switch drinks. I'm tired of vodka."

He stood on unsteady legs. "I'll get the gin." He picked up the vodka bottle, took one last drink then walked over to the cabinet. She drew her legs up to her chest and stared at the empty glasses until he returned, sitting down on her left on the floor and placing the bottle on the table.

They did not say anything as he mixed the vermouth and the gin in the glasses. They did a silent cheers and drank their first sip without a word.

The silence continued as his hand traveled underneath her dress and up the length of her leg. It lingered in the air when he kissed her neck. It was still there when she placed her drink aside and unbuttoned his shirt. It lasted until they went into his room.

It was winter in Kanto. The snow was falling everywhere, though no lights were on to illuminate it.

_I don't even know. I just don't even know. [I can't believe I just wrote a new piece of fanfic that's terrible. I'm terrible.]_

_And, you know, disclaimer thing where I say that I don't own anything Pokemon related and all that jazz._


End file.
